Posts Tagged ‘best pickup’

Who says you need to spend big money to get a luxury ride? Subaru and Mazda are delivering new luxury features at a mainstream price, notes the latest update of the annual Consumer Reports automotive report card.

Audi and Subaru topped the 2016 list of automotive brands, with all of their vehicles on the CR Recommended Buy list. But while Mazda ranked only sixth overall, the influential consumer magazine nonetheless is giving a Recommended Buy endorsement to all of its products, as well.

Best of the Best!

Separately, Consumer Reports calls the Kia Sorento and Lexus RX the best SUVs its tested this year. The Toyota Camry took top honors among midsize sedans, with other winning models including the Mazda Miata sports car, full-size Chevrolet Impala sedan, and Honda Fit subcompact. Ford took top honors in the pickup truck category, with the redesigned F-150, for the first time in 17 years.

The Ram EcoDiesel is leaving competitors behind with its 28 mpg highway rating.

In the race for supremacy in the enormously profitable full-size pickup truck market fuel economy has become an increasingly competitive issue – and is likely to become even more important going forward, so makers that once put horsepower and towing limits atop their ads are now just as likely to emphasize mpg.

That’s meant some significant changes in truck design, with a growing emphasis on so-called “lightweighting,” and the emergence of a new generation of higher performance V-6s, such as the Ford EcoBoost V6 that has left competitors domestic and foreign scrambling.

Fuel for Thought!

But Chrysler has struck back with its new Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, landing a string of kudos, including the coveted Motor Trend Truck of the Year. And now, Chrysler is claiming what could be an even more significant victory, the EPA giving the diesel version of the Ram a car-like 28 mpg Highway Cycle mileage rating – the best ever recorded for a full-size half-ton pickup.